2000
#146,011
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Blaies
An Old French surname likely derived from a diminutive of the personal name "Blasius".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Blaies. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Blaies surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Blaies in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Blaies, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Blaies
The surname BLAIES is believed to have originated in France during the medieval period. It is thought to be a locational name, derived from a place name in northern France, possibly from the region of Normandy or Brittany. The earliest recorded spelling of the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Blais".
One of the earliest documented bearers of the name was Guillaume Blaies, a Norman nobleman who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. He was rewarded with lands in Wiltshire for his service and his descendants continued to use the Blaies surname for generations.
In the 13th century, a branch of the Blaies family settled in the village of Blaisdon in Gloucestershire, England. The village's name is derived from the Old English words "blaec" and "dun", meaning "black hill", and it's possible that this place name influenced the spelling of the surname over time.
Another notable figure bearing the Blaies surname was Jean Blaies, a French philosopher and theologian who lived in the 15th century. He was a professor at the University of Paris and wrote several influential works on medieval scholasticism.
In the 16th century, the Blaies family had a presence in Scotland, with records showing a Robert Blaies who was a merchant in Edinburgh in the 1540s.
One of the most famous bearers of the Blaies name was Sir William Blaies, an English courtier and diplomat who served under King Henry VIII in the early 16th century. He was knighted in 1520 and played a crucial role in negotiations with France and the Holy Roman Empire.
Other notable individuals with the Blaies surname include:
1. Charles Blaies (1782-1856), a French soldier who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later became a respected military historian.
2. Marie-Françoise Blaies (1713-1794), a French botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy.
3. Jacques Blaies (1621-1678), a Flemish painter known for his landscapes and genre scenes.
4. Étienne Blaies (1870-1935), a French architect who designed several notable buildings in Paris in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Blaies
Among Census respondents with the surname Blaies, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Blaies bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Blaies surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.1% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 4
- Two or more races3.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Blaies
Blaies appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,033 places
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+7 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,379 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #146,011 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 10,033 places |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | +7 bearers (+6.7%) | Up 7,379 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Blaies surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #156,044 | #148,665 | 4.7% |
| Count | 104 | 111 | 6.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Blaies bearers went from 104 to 111 (+6.7% change). The surname moved up 7,379 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #148,665.
FAQ
Blaies surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Blaies?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Blaies. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Blaies?
Blaies ranks #148,665 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Blaies. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Blaies.
Has Blaies become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Blaies went from 104 recorded bearers to 111. That is an increase of 7 (+6.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Blaies?
Among Census respondents with the surname Blaies, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Blaies in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.1% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Blaies appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%), Two or More Races (3.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Blaies (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Blaies mean?
An Old French surname likely derived from a diminutive of the personal name "Blasius". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Blaies (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Blaies?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.